A Westmeath Lough

The other day we took off on our travels again, northwards this time instead of westerly or even southerly. Still though the hunger remained within us to learn more about the area we were visiting and we agreed that a return trips must be made to slake our thirst.

You have probably have heard about the Children of Lír or at least have read one of the many tales, for they are as numerous as the fleas on a dogs back.

Well here is another.

The story of the Children of Lír is one of the best known tales of Ireland. This story tells of Lir and his wife Aobh and their four children called Aodh, Fionnghuala, Fiachra and Conn. Lír's wife died and he married again. His new wife was called Aoife and she became the children's stepmother. At first she loved them dearly but after a time she grew jealous of their father's affection for them.

One day she bore them away and put them under a spell. They were turned into four white swans at Lough Derravarragh in County Westmeath. They remained there for four hundred years. Then they flew away and settled on the Sea of Moyle between Ireland and Scotland, where they stayed for three hundred years in cold and misery. From there they spent three years in Erris, County Mayo where they endured even further sorrow.

At the end of that time they returned to their old home at Sídh Fionnachaidh in County Armagh. Their father was long dead and the place was desolate and empty. They flew off again to Erris and there met the Christian Missionary, St. Mochaomhóg who treated them with great kindness.

At last their period of enchantment came to an end and they were turned into three withered old men and an old woman. The saint baptised them, they died peacefully and were buried together.
© CARLOW COUNTY LIBRARY

Lough Derravarragh in stormy light.

The notice half hidden by a precious/precocious land owner say's 'No Entry'

Forgetting that the fit can easily leap the wall!

Stuck amongst the reeds - how embarrassing !

Reed beds are a plenty on these lake shores

and I like their reflected images.

The Yellow Water Lilies could be the children of Lír reborn as flowers?

In nearby Castlepollard stands what to my mind is a grotesque impersonation of The Children of Lír. What are your thoughts ?

I have been caught fiddling again.

A special Welcome to the viewers

from Mauritius

thank you for visiting.

A FACIST ACTION IN LOUTH

On the day that Ireland defended its actions on the rights of children before UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva. The barbaric Louth County Council took the opposite point of view and created unnecessary pain and suffering to Traveller Children.

Pavee Point calls on Environment Minister, Alan Kelly TD, to intervene as a matter of urgency to compel Louth County Council to provide alternative accommodation for 17 Traveller families evicted from a halting site in Dundalk today (15th January 2016)

The families were evicted from a Traveller local authority halting site that had been decommissioned by Louth County Council.

Pavee Point condemns these evictions as unnecessary and unwarranted. “This is one of coldest nights of the year and these people have no where to go,” said Martin Collins, Co Director of Pavee Point. “It is clear that Louth County Council has absolutely no concern for the health and safety of these families”

“Louth County Council has totally failed in its duty here. It has a policy of not providing Traveller Specific accommodation such as halting sites or group housing schemes,” said Martin Collins, “They are trying to force Travellers into social or private housing and this is in total breach of the 1998 Traveller Accommodation Act.”

“There is a demand for Traveller specific accommodation in Dundalk and these families are the living proof.

“These families have children at school in the town. Think how these children will be affected by this !

Pavee Point urges the Environment Minister to intervene to find a solution and make good undertakings that there would be no mass evictions of Traveller families as a result of fire safety audits on halting sites in the wake of the Carrickmines fire tragedy.

These evictions are confirming fears that Pavee Point had that local authorities would use the fire audits in a cynical way to evict Travellers.  It is important at this stage that Travellers engaging with the Environment Dept in its safety audit can have trust in this process.

Minister Kelly put a Community Initiative in place at his Department to deal with any issues around fire safety on Traveller halting sites and it is through this Initiative that any fire safety issues on sites should be dealt with.

January 15, 2016 at 7:45 pm

To my blog readers:
Just imagine how you would feel if your local authority were to rescind the planning permission on the house that you had lived in for years. Then arrived at your home, along with the police, on a very cold day in January to evict you.

Can you imagine how these people must feel?

Additional Information:-

Today, Eleanor Kelly, solicitor for six of the evicted families said the youngest family member is eight days old.
Four of the families stayed in B&B accommodation this weekend, while two others stayed with their families and friends.
“The youngest is eight days old, there are 17 families in total,”
“The difficulty is that they were given 48 hours to find alternative accommodation.”
She said she had been in contact with Louth County Council about the site at Woodland Park last August, but did not hear back from the council until last week when the families were being delivered 48 hours’ notice to be evicted.


A fire officer visited the site in October and deemed it to be a hazard.
“If there’s work to be done, there’s work to be done.” But she added: “I was in contact with the council last August”
“The ideal situation is to allow them to go to a halting site but there’s no other halting site in Dundalk.”
“These are Dundalk families, they want to be in Dundalk, but I’m aware the halting site in Drogheda is full anyway.”
The council met with Traveller representatives on Saturday to agree on temporary accommodation for the 17 families involved.


FOR LATEST INFORMATION PLEASE READ COMMENT NUMBER 22

Links:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/CRCIndex.aspx
http://www.paveepoint.ie
http://www.childrensrights.ie
http://www.louthcoco.ie/en/Louth_County_Council

Blatant Breach of Humanitarian Law

Kunduz outrage: Medicins Sans Frontieres has asked that concerned people demand an independent investigation into the bombing of Kunduz Hospital.

The US Air Force had the GPS co-ordinates of the hospital so there is really no excuse for what happened, regardless of who called for assistance. The US said the Afghanistan troops asked for help however, the pilots were American service personnel, who we must assume are highly trained.

This is not the first time that these specialist fliers have bombed their allies. An incident occurred in the First Iraqi War

when a group of British servicemen were wiped out by friendly fire from American aircraft. The US term is I believe 'collateral damage'.

On Saturday 3 October 2015 the MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, was repeatedly bombed by coalition forces.

"The US government has admitted that it was their airstrike that hit our hospital in Kunduz and killed 22 patients and MSF staff. Their description of the attack keeps changing – from collateral damage, to a tragic incident, to now attempting to pass responsibility to the Afghanistan government." – Christopher Stokes, General Director, Médecins Sans Frontières

Please join in and demand that a full and transparent investigation into the event be conducted.

To support this plea please view the link below

http://www.msf.org/kunduz-

Further to the above

• Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) have called for an independent fact-finding mission into a US airstrike on a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan that killed at least 22 people, AP said. MSF said its call would mark the first time such a fact-finding mission would be launched under the rules of the Geneva Conventions. The weekend strike“was not just an attack on our hospital, it was an attack on the Geneva Conventions,” the group’s international president, Joanne Liu, said on Wednesday, adding that “this cannot be tolerated.”

A Dirty Trick or lack of consultation?

Thursday 3rd Sept.

Hungarian police halted a train packed with refugees bound for the Austrian border and tried to force them to disembark in a town with a detention camp on Thursday, a confrontation that has become a focus of Europe's migration crisis.

After shutting refugees out of the main train station in the capital Budapest for two days, authorities played a dirty trick by giving false hope to the exhausted and confused people to board a westbound train. Hundreds crammed aboard clinging to doors and squeezing their children through open carriage windows.

But instead of proceeding to the Austrian border, the train was stopped just west of Budapest in the town of Bicske, where Hungary has a migration reception centre, and police ordered the passengers off.

Police cleared one carriage, while five more stood at the station in the heat. Fearing detention, some people banged on windows chanting "No camp! No camp!"

One group pushed back dozens of riot police guarding a stairwell to fight their way back on board. One family - a man, his wife and their toddler - made their way along the track next to the train and lay down in protest. It took a dozen riot police wrestling with the man to get them up again. 

"We need water," said a Syrian man who was still on the train and gave his name as Midu.

"Respect the humans in here; no respect for the humans.We want to go to Germany, not here," he said in English.

There then followed a curtailment of news reporting when baton wielding Hungarian Police forced

international journalists out of the station and declared it an operation zone.

The questions that are uppermost: what are Hungarian police afraid of or are their intended actions going to be so terrible and inhumane, that it must be kept secret from the rest of Europe ?

Report by Marton Dunai Reuters +Activist editing)

Friday:

Bob Geldof has said he is prepared to take in four refugee families to do his part in helping to deal with the growing migrant crisis.

Speaking to Dave Fanning on RTÉ Radio One, he said that he looks at the crisis with profound shame.  

He said he understands the economics and the politics, and that the root cause has to be addressed.

However, he said we are in a period of fundamental shift and when people are poor they move.

"It is a monstrous betrayal of who we are and what we wish to be, we are in a moment that will be discussed and impacted upon in 300 years time, a fundamental shift in the way the world has worked for the last, say, 600 years.

"If there's a new economy there needs to be a new politics. There isn't and it's that failure of new politics that has led to this fucking disgrace."

The aid campaigner and singer said he would open the doors to his family home in Kent and his flat in London in a personal response to the shocking scenes.

"I'm prepared - I'm lucky, I've a place in Kent and a flat in London - me and [partner] Jeanne would be prepared to take three families immediately in our place in Kent and a family in our flat in London, immediately, and put them up until such time as they can get going and get a purchase on their future."

Geldof also said that he himself is an economic migrant as Britain accepted him and he said it is the same for thousands of Irish people living in England and Australia and in countries across the world.

HUNGARIANS fail to remember !

That on 4th November 1956, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest and other regions of the country. The Hungarian resistance continued until 10 November. Over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed in the conflict, and 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees. 

Many of the Hungarians crossed the borders with the help of smugglers, and many arrived without ID papers – but it did not tarnish their image or impede their acceptance as refugees.

The 1956 uprising and its aftermath helped shape the way humanitarian organisations – not least UNHCR – were to deal with refugee crises. The episode also left an indelible mark on international refugee law and policy.

The Hungarian Refugees settled in many countries including America, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, UK and New Zealand,

HUNGARIAN REFUGEES
1,400 Hungarians were given a welcome marked with orchestra, Danish pastry and flowers when they arrived in Denmark after the uprising against the communist regime in 1956. They were the first official refugees and perhaps the best received refugees in the history of Denmark.

HUNGARIAN REFUGEES

"Olga Murphy arrived in Ireland in 1956 as a young girl of 17, one of 350 refugees who came to Ireland fleeing the Soviet tanks after the Hungarian Revolution. Arriving in the midst of an Irish Winter the refugees were housed in Knockalisheen, a former army summer camp in Limerick. Olga was one of the few Hungarians who remained in Ireland after leaving the refugee camp and she continues to live in Limerick. The following is from the story of Dorrit O’Shaugnessy, a Hungarian friend of Olga’s, also living in Limerick, who among many experiences and achievements in her life, acted as an interpreter in the Knockalisheen camp following the arrival of the refugees."

reference 

http://www.unhcr.ie/world-refugee-day/1950s-olga-murphy-from-hungary

"1956. A date, surely, that must be indelibly etched in the consciousness of almost every Hungarian of the modern era.”

No one chooses to be a Refugee

Every minute eight people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror.

If conflict threatened your family, what would you do? Stay and risk your lives? Or try to flee, and risk kidnap, rape or torture?

For many refugees the choice is between the horrific or something worse.

While no one chooses to become a refugee, you do have a choice to help – Even in difficult economic times, it doesn’t cost a single cent to show interest in others, learn, and share your new knowledge and interest.

Is there 1 thing you could do to show your support for a refugee or asylum seeker?

Roaming Red Caps

As mentioned by Harlow in a comment on the previous blog post. Red Caps can be found in many other countries other than Ireland. They relocate along with their human companions and maintain their fine traditions by keeping the same dress code and customs.

Harald and Freda in Dorset, England.

Now, here is a good example of a Darby and Joan type who have been partners since the beginning of time. They are Harald and Freda. The latter is responsible for ensuring that her relations are all well dressed and because of this I received a message from her meant for Hazel. I will share it with you all and ask that you pass it on, just in case you meet up with him first. 

"They, Harald and Freda, really enjoyed his adventures and are glad he is getting on so well in Ireland. However Freda is a little concerned that Hazel is a bit tipsy as his hat is rather crooked in several photos. She says she will make a nice new warm felt one for the winter."

***

We move now to a Spa town set in the heartlands of the English countryside to meet Thorn who is Hazel's learned brother.

Thorn relaxing.

Thorn's speciality is keeping the young humans entertained and assisting them in their education. The knowledge that they acquire from him is very different to that of normal human education.

Thorn demonstrating the uses of the trampoline which he says can lead 

to flights of another kind and magical realms, 

depending upon intuitive capabilities of the student.

Tractor driving is not one of Thorn's ideal pursuits, 

as can be seen by the fearful look on his face, 

it is however a favourite with his pupil who has been enamoured with tractors ever

 since driving a Massey-Fergusson on his holidays in Ireland.

Here the learned Thorn excels at chalking the alphabet and numbers

in an effort to assist his pupil in the arts of literacy and numerics.

Balance in all things says Thorn!

"If only the young fellow would stay abed more

often I would get time off to go visiting

my friends who live in the local parks."

As you can see in the photos these small creatures get around so don't be surprised if you spot a small red cap bobbing through the grass near you! 

22nd May Referendum Day

On 22nd May Ireland will hold two Referenda on the same day. 

a, To change the minimum age of when an individual can become The President of Ireland from 35 to 21.

Personally I think that 21 is too young and that anyone who takes up this high office needs to have 'lived' and to have had life experiences.

b,The one that is upper most in the news is the Marriage Equality Referendum.

This referendum is being held to make a change in the Irish Constitution about the rights of the individual to marry a person of their choice- a person of the same sex as themselves.

Currently the word ‘marriage' in the Constitution refers only to the marriage between a male and a female, it fails to recognise the rights of the individual. The 1916 Proclamation guaranteed religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all of its citizens.

It is now time to put that right.

I have read the amendment and I have read the Children and Family Relationships Bill and am satisfied that the Marriage Equality amendment has nothing to do with children.

The state of being married does not mean that children will be produced by the couple, adopted or even fostered and being married does not give any couple a right to a family.

Nor does the Marriage Equality referendum have anything to do with religion.

Myself and Mrs H enjoy a very happy marriage and I see no reason why my gay friends in Ireland should not be allowed to do the same, especially as some of them have been partners for a lot longer than we have.

A Sunday Market

Several times a year, on warm, sunny Sundays, we visit the Clara Sunday Market & Car Boot Sale.

It’s a family run market which was set up in 1993 to sell new and second hand goods and takes place every week. Situated on the Moate Rd outside Clara, Co. Offaly, the market sits on on a 6 acre site and is only 

15 minutes drive from Tullamore.

We go there when we have something specific to buy but also enjoy a thorough browse amongst the stalls. 

This time we went to buy a garden hoe and I was lucky, for lying in amongst dozens of others was an old forged hoe with a brand new handle. To me this was ideal and far better than a modern pressed steel one which bends as soon as you give them any work. I always feel recycling tools, rather than buying new, is a good idea and better still I purchased it for small money.

You never know who you are going to meet at the market or what you are going to find there, depending on which travelling trader attends. In the past I have met traders from all over Europe selling their wares and friends who were also looking for a bargain. There is always the chance to chat and have a bit of craic, especially over a cup of tea from the small café.

We visit Clara Market with the goods we wish to buy in mind and have usually found what we are looking for, with a few extra bits and pieces we have discovered along the way thrown in. 

My finds so far have included a brand new heavy leather waistcoat, a 1950’s teapot, socks, boots, 

cushion covers, curtains, pottery bowls and other miscellaneous items - it really is a treasure trove.

Traders from all over the place come here.

White vans predominate the scene.

Tool for every job and use. 

I wonder what she is thinking ?

Making a sale involves a lot of chat

One lonely rooster!

Fresh fruit anyone ?

Local produce on old oil drums

A DINGLE EXPERIENCE

A gathering of the European Rainbow Family took place at Ballyhupahaun in the Slieve Bloom mountains. Approximately two thousand people from all around the world attended and although the core group was possibly only half that number, during their three week stay their was a continuos stream of people arriving and leaving on a daily basis.

I first heard of the event when I was on my annual visit to my mother who was living in Glastonbury, Somerset in early July 1993. 
I was in the town when I bumped into an old friend who was waiting at a bus stop and just as her bus arrived she said “I’m going to Ireland soon to a Rainbow Camp” and before I could ask whereabouts, she was gone.


Early the next day I too was on my way back to Ireland via Pembroke in Wales, to catch the ferry to Rosslare followed by a two and half hour drive to my then bachelor home.  A few days later I was having a cup of tea and a chat with my turf supplier, when his wife told me about the Rainbow people who were camping up in the mountains. I waited for a couple of days before making a visit to the camp and the very first person I met was my friend from Glastonbury!

Photo © Senator John Whelan 1993

European Rainbow Family Gathering at Ballyhupahaun, Slieve Blooms 1993

Further information in regard to the Rainbow Gathering can be read at

http://www.wiredwithwhelan.com/?p=974

After that I was a frequent visitor and towards the end of the gathering she asked if she, her daughter and other friends could come and stay with me for a few days. I happily agreed and also offered to take them to Cork to catch the Swansea ferry if they supplied the petrol. 


So we eventually set off to take a slow meandering route to Cork, via counties Offaly, Galway, Clare, Limerick and Kerry. Our destination in Kerry was of course Dingle and a visit to see Fungi the dolphin. Once there I parked on the quay side and waited whilst they took the boat to see the popular marine mammal. 
Afterwards we drove around Dingle bay looking for a secluded spot to pitch two small tents. We found a small grassy promontory on the bank of a creek which seemed to be last resting place for old trawlers.

Dingle Bay and Harbour (see inset below)

A creek of Dingle bay.

We camped very close to the two smaller boats

Both maps: source Apple Maps

Myself and another man took one tent whilst the three women had the other with sufficient room between the two tents for a small cooking fire. Behind us was a rusting boundary fence belonging to the overgrown garden of a derelict cottage and front of us a wide creek. 

Sleep came easily for we had had a busy day. 
During the night I was awoken by a noise that could best be described as the sound of children playing in the school yard. It was coming from behind our tent and getting progressively closer. I finally heard an authoritative male voice say “Leave them alone! They are alright”.
I lay quietly in my sleeping bag wondering whether to awaken my companion but decided that it was pointless so started to drift back to sleep. Again I was disturbed by exactly the same noise of children playing and the male voice. Eventually I slept.

Next morning all five of us gathered by the fire where I began telling my companion what I had heard during the night.  At the same time Ms S started to relate to her companions exactly the same account. She too had heard the children playing and the male voice!

Later I looked in the over-grown garden to see if it had been disturbed at all. No grass had been flattened, no footprints were visible, there were no signs of a human presence having been there.
To this day I have no idea of the source of the nocturnal noises. 

Dingle Faeries perhaps ?

Has anyone an explanation or had a similar experience in Dingle or elsewhere ?

Poverty & Children

©Irish Examiner 2014

This is what the Irish government coalition of Fine Gael & Labour have produced during their years of office, through the bad management of resources and are still causing in throughout the twenty-six counties, where many children go to school hungry!

A new report shows that children in families which have experienced poverty in the recession have suffered greater behavioural problems. 

The six-year ESRI "Growing Up In Ireland" study of 20,000 children found a risk of "strongly negative" consequences for children's emotional development if families were vulnerable for "longer periods of time".

The report will be launched by the Children's Minister James Reilly this morning, and it suggests a broader range of supports are needed to help vulnerable families.

Dr Dorothy Watson said that while parents may try to protect their children from the financial reality, it still has an impact.

"We found this for the three-year-olds … as well as for the older children," she said.

"Even though children might not have a very good understanding of what's happening in the family, at some level they pick up on these differences, and it affects their socio-emotional wellbeing."

Speaking ahead of the launch, Minister Reilly said the government has committed to tackling economic hardship through its Better Outcomes - Brighter Futures policy framework.

 Irish Examiner